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| FEAR INDEX band (Hong Kong Thrash Metal). Left to Right: Chester Lo (rhythm guitar / vocals), Mathew Tang (bass), Kieran James (Busuk Chronicles), and Douglas Li (lead guitar) @ Hong Kong, 12/1/2016. Drummer Lai Wing Hang could not make it that night. |
My
second interview with FEAR INDEX (Hong Kong Thrash Metal)
Date:
12 January 2016 @ Mong Kok, Hong Kong
By
Kieran James aka Jack Frost
FEAR
INDEX is: Chester Lo (vocals / rhythm guitar), Mathew Tang (bass), Douglas Li
(lead guitar), and Lai Wing Hang (drums). Lai Wing Hang replaces the previous
drummer Cyrus Wong.
Kieran James aka Jack Frost:
Please tell us more about the recording process for your new EP Age of Wrath to be released on Greedy
Sea Records?
Chester (vocalist / rhythm
guitarist): We started…
Douglas (lead guitarist): Around
2014.
Chester: It was started on 14
March 2014 and first we recorded the guitar and bass at home. We recorded the
vocals at Douglas’ house. For the drum part we were lucky to get sponsored by
someone else to record at Live House in Hong Kong. We pretty much got all of
the recording done in May.
Mathew (bassist): Yes, May 2014.
Chester: Then we started mixing
and mastering all the stuff ourselves. We had some accidents in between. We
were going through this in early 2015. We got stuck at the cover artwork. The
illustrator is Douglas’ friend.
[All smile.]
Chester: We were lucky we got a
recording deal. The record label Greedy Sea Records approached us in early
2015.
KJ: Is it a UK record label?
Mathew: No, it is a brand new
China label from Beijing.
KJ: You must be very happy that
they approached you?
Mathew: Yes, for sure.
Chester: Lucky draw.
KJ: Did the record label ask you
to do some Chinese songs?
Mathew: No, they just said to do
what we want.
Douglas: They said they support
our style.
KJ: Did they want any change to
the music?
Mathew: No, they wanted it as
close as possible to the original sound. They just wanted to let us get it to
the world.
Chester: The founder of the label
has played some extreme stuff. We were quite surprised that an extreme-metal
guy will get us a record deal. He says he listens to all sorts of things.
KJ: How many copies did they
make?
Chester: I guess 1,000 copies and
50 cassettes. They were done at the same time.
KJ: When was the release date?
Douglas: September 2015.
Mathew: In Hong Kong.
Chester: It was a little earlier
in China, the shipping takes time.
KJ: What is the response for the
album?
Douglas: Some of the audience
liked the cover art and the music, including people from England and Japan.
Mathew: The record label has the
network to distribute in Australia, UK, and Japan.
KJ: Did metal fans from any other
countries contact you?
Chester: In the past half-year we
have had fans on the Facebook from different parts of the world.
KJ: Did you get any response from
our first interview last year?
Chester: Yes, a boy or man from
Russia is very keen on our music.
KJ: Did anyone contact you from
Indonesia?
Chester: We saw a few likes from
there.
KJ: What are the best and biggest
shows you played last year?
Chester: A-Fest in Malaysia; this is a metal fest.
Mathew: They had local metal
bands and also Singaporean and Indonesian.
KJ: What was the crowd size?
Chester: We didn’t count as it
was quite dark [smiles].
Mathew: The hall was pretty big.
It was in a very famous indoor sports stadium. The crowd was possibly around
500+.
KJ: Are you happy with the way
the CD sounds?
Chester: Yes. We were
experiencing a tight budget. We were testing how tight we could make the budget.
KJ: And you said it cost
HK$10,000 [17,709,000IDR / US$1,284] in total?
Chester: That is for the gear but
some of the gear we own already so we didn’t need to pay for that.
KJ: Can you hear any problems
with the album?
Chester: It is not the best, we
tried to do it with the minimum budget; we used the digital recording methods;
we had to sacrifice some warm [analogue] sounds from the album.
KJ: It’s OK; I think it is a very
good sound.
Chester: We listen to MP3 format
now; technology has helped us a lot.
KJ: Have you got any songs left
that were not recorded?
Chester: No.
 |
| Douglas Li (lead guitar), Chester Lo (g / v), Mathew Tang (b) |
KJ: Have you been writing any new
songs?
Chester: Yes. Over the last
half-year I have drafted some ideas. Yesterday I got some more time to draft
some songs.
KJ: Which parts come first in the
writing process?
Chester: Guitar parts come first,
then I work it around, add some vocals, lead guitar…
KJ: How about the guitar solos
performed by Douglas?
Chester: I write a complete song
and then I pass it to Douglas for the guitar solo.
KJ: Who writes the lyrics?
Mathew: Me and Chester.
Chester: Some are totally by me,
some by him, and some we work together.
KJ: Do you call Age of Wrath an album or an EP?
Douglas: EP.
KJ: Are there any plans for the
full album?
Chester: That would be a long
battle, writing a full album, we are working on it.
KJ: Your lyrics are about
interpersonal issues and struggle, did you consider to experiment?
Mathew: There may be something
that happens on TV or in your life and you want to write it down. If everyone
approves we can try it out.
KJ: Is it a conscious choice to
write in English?
Chester: Yes, we want to reach as
wide an audience as possible.
Mathew: The wider audience.
Chester: English is the
international language.
KJ: Is there a guitar solo in
every song?
Chester: Except for song #4
titled “Haters”.
Mathew: That song is a very fast
song.
Chester: It’s not the fastest.
Mathew: It has a kind of SLAYER
feel to it.
Chester: We have changed our
drummer. He [Hang] has to work today so he can’t join us.
KJ: Why did you change the
drummer?
Chester: After some time the members
have different tastes…
Douglas: And opinions.
Chester: We all want to go in
different musical directions so he [Cyrus Wong] left.
KJ: What about Douglas, he is
into power-metal shredding and you are a thrash band?
Chester: He can shred whatever he
likes as long as he can help up the speed [laughs].
KJ: How did you find the new
drummer?
Chester: We met him at the
rehearsal space. When we needed to find a new drummer literally we asked his help
to find another drummer then he wanted to have a try himself.
Mathew: It just clicked [laughs].
He gets the feel of the songs and he knows what we want him to play on the
drums.
Douglas: He is not really a metal
drummer but he has a lot of performance experience; that’s really important.
Mathew: It’s been fun for the new
drummer because he just signed up and he gets to play these big shows. Everyone
is happy and he is happy of course. He played at the show in Malaysia.
KJ: That was your first show
outside Greater China region of HK, China, plus Taiwan?
Mathew: Yes, in Malaysia.
KJ: What was the show you played
in Taiwan?
Chester: It was called Freedom Festival.
KJ: Do you think your live show
is improving?
Chester: We are happy with the
new drummer. He learned the songs fast so we can play tighter and more solid
than before.
Douglas: And he has really good
music sense. He really fits our music.
Chester: He knows other
instruments.
Douglas: He can play guitar.
Chester: This makes it a lot
easier for us to communicate.
KJ: What bands are you listening
to recently?
Chester: SLAYER comes up first in
line, the latest album.
Mathew: You need to check it out,
it’s really great.
Mathew: There is a new ANTHRAX
single out, it’s a really good song; you can check it out on YouTube.
Mathew: “Illusion” is the latest
song we wrote [track #2 on the CD].
KJ: Do you think this is the best
song on the EP?
Mathew: It has speed and song
structure; you can tell it is more matured. When we first heard it from Chester
we were pleasantly surprised. It is very challenging for us to remember. When
the chorus comes Douglas has a melodic lead guitar thing going on under the
chorus. Everything is really gelled together.
KJ: Do you think that is the best
guitar solo on the EP?
Douglas: I say “yes” as it is
really hard and challenging.
KJ: Will you all still play this
music when you are older than me, say 50-60-years-old?
Douglas: I hope we can.
KJ: Is it hard to explain this western
metal music to family and friends?
Mathew: Family? I guess so.
Friends? It takes some time, let it be.
Chester: I try to mention it to
them but I say more if they are interested. If not then let it be.
[Douglas starts to sing the song
“Let it be”!]
KJ: In 16 days in Hong Kong I
have only seen two people wearing metal shirts, both in Mong Kok.
Chester: Most of the bands rent a
place for rehearsal in the industrial area of Kwun Tong; you might see more
metal shirts there.
Mathew: The CD will be on the
shelves in the stores soon.
KJ: Which stores?
Chester: Tom Lee musical
instrument store, Tsim Sha Tsui.
Mathew: And we are setting up the
online store now.
KJ: Will there be an album
launching?
Chester: I guess not; the scene
is not so big here. However, some bands had an album launching.
************
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| Douglas Li, Mathew Tang, and Chester Lo @ Mong Kok, Hong Kong, 12/1/2016 |
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| Mathew Tang, Douglas Li, and Chester Lo @ Mong Kok, Hong Kong, 12/1/2016 |
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| FEAR INDEX 2014 formation: Left to Right: Mathew Tang (bass), Chester Lo (rhythm guitar / vocals), Douglas Li (lead guitar), and Cyrus Wong (former drummer) @ Hong Kong, December 2014. |
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| FEAR INDEX 2014 formation: Left to Right: Douglas Li (lead guitar), Cyrus Wong (former drummer), Chester Lo (rhythm guitar / vocals), Mathew Tang (bassist), December 2014. |
